The 2025 OSG European Championships reached their climax on Sunday afternoon at the York Barbican as a plethora of European title were awarded after a thrilling weekend of Strongman! With even more competitors than last season, 160 athletes in 11 divisions completed five events, in two-days of non-stop action. Many of the classes went to the wire, with the overall victors determined on the very final event of the weekend!
In the open classes three-time World’s Strongest Woman, Donna Moore, went one better than last year to take 1st place in the Women’s Open and add yet another accolade to her long list of achievements. In the Men’s Open, Ukraine’s Oleh Pylypiak stole the show with a dominant victory, having placed just 7th here last year.
The contest got underway at 10.00am on Saturday morning and was livestreamed via Official Strongman. On Day 1, three events were contested: Axle Deadlift for maximum repetitions, after which the competitors moved to the Log Clean and Press and finished with an explosive Sandbag Toss. Day 2 began with Yoke Carry and then concluded with a lung-busting Sandbag Steeplechase.
As well as the OSG European Title, the athletes were also fighting for the five automatic invites to OSG Worlds later this year, and for the open competitors, a likely invite to a Giants Live show!
Women’s U64kg
Kate Connolly of England retained the title she won last season with first places in every event! She built an 8-point winning margin over Shannon Smith who was also 2nd last year. The pair went head-to-head multiple times throughout the weekend, with Connolly managing to come out on top each time. Emily Norley completed the English podium sweep, finishing just 3-points shy of Smith. Achieving a clean sweep of all five events was a truly stunning achievement from Connolly and may well go down as the performance of the whole weekend!
Women’s Masters 40+
England’s Naomi Hadley claimed another European title with a consistent and, at times, brilliant display that included event wins in both the Sandbag Toss and Yoke Carry. She was beaten into second in the Sandbag Steeplechase by Michaela Pearson who finished second overall, just 2.5-points adrift of Hadley. Another English 1-2-3 was achieved curtesy of Gemma Ferguson’s 3rd place finish. She won the weekend’s opening event, amassing 10-reps in the Axle Deadlift to share 1st place with Andrea Seed. Hadley was the winner in York last year and had stood on the podium at Britain’s Strongest Woman just two weeks prior. She is continuing to show improvement in all events and will be a force to be reckoned with at World’s.
Women’s U73kg
With last year’s champion, Nicola Ann-Bennett, moving out of this division, the door was open for a new champion in the women’s U73kg class. England’s Goldie Lee got off to a spectacular start, claiming event wins in both the Axel Deadlift and Log Press and looking to be a dominant force in this category. With Laura Hollywood doing just enough to keep herself in contention, Lee dropped her first significant points in the Yoke Carry, allowing Laura to close the gap with back-to-back second places in the Sandbag Toss and Yoke. Still maintaining a lead, Lee was unable to finish the Sandbag Steeplechase, whilst Hollywood stormed to her first event win of the weekend to take the title. Rosie Abercrombie claimed the third podium spot, just a couple of points behind Lee, taking an event win in the Sandbag Toss.
Women’s U82kg
France’s Angela Berva became the first non-English winner of these championships after securing a commanding 7.5-point win over defending champion, Sabrina Retzer, of Germany. Her victory came thanks to event wins in the Axle Deadlift and Sandbag Toss, and she and Sabrina were the only athletes to press the 90kg log, with Retzer taking the win with 5-reps. England’s Emma Grunnill, who was also 3rd last year, took the final podium spot, just 0.5-points ahead of Nicola Ann Bennett.
Women’s Open
Donna Moore cruised to victory in the women’s open class, securing a 5-point victory over the fast-improving Annabelle Champman with a superb display of consistency. The pair had finished level on points at Britain’s Strongest Woman two weeks prior, but on this occasion the three-time World’s Strongest Woman was too strong as she picked up an event win in the Sandbag Toss and three second places in the Axle Deadlift, Log Press and Sandbag Steeplechase. Chapman won the Log Press with 4-reps on the 100kg log that only three of the fourteen-woman field managed a rep with. Patricia Smit of the Netherlands finished in third place, well ahead of Czech athlete, Jana Roubalova, who took victory in the Sandbag Steeplechase, making light work of the two 100k sacks.
Men’s U80kg
Fourteen men battled it out in the hotly contested lightweight division and there was no shortage of explosive action! England’s Richard Molnar finished 3rd last year but was in unstoppable form this time around as he claimed wins in the Axle Deadlift, Log Press and Sandbag Steeplechase on his way to a commanding 9.5-point victory over Dorian Diepeveen from the Netherlands. The Dutch athlete took an event win in the Yoke Carry and finished 4.5-points clear of Scotland’s Finlay Mercer, who took 3rd overall, improving on his 4th place result from last year. Scotland’s Dean McVie achieved the only other event win from this field of men, taking top honours in the 110kg Log Press with 7-reps.
Men’s Masters 50+
In possibly the most exciting class of the whole weekend, England’s Richard Birchmore defeated Strongman legends, Mark Felix and Žydrūnas Savickas to claim the European title. Felix had secured a three-point win last year and took early control of the contest after winning the Axle Deadlift and taking equal 2nd in the Log Press with Birchmore. There were few surprises that Savickas easily won the Log Press, but as Felix faltered in the Sandbag Toss, Birchmore had the lead going into day 2. Felix regained his lead after a convincing win in the Yoke Carry, but it was by just a single point meaning he’d still have to beat Birchmore in the Sandbag Steeplechase final event. The top three men faced off in the last heat, and as Savickas struggled with a torn hamstring, Felix and Birchmore battled it out in a thrilling head-to-head race. Felix led for much of it and looked quicker on the pick-ups, but Birchmore’s speed in the carry and on the returns won the day and he loaded his second bag just ahead of his rival to tie on overall points and take the title by virtue of a better result in the final event.
Men’s U90kg
Harry Rogers improved from 5th place last year to secure a 3-point victory over Czech athlete Filip Zajiček. The 18-man field was the biggest division of the entire contest and was possibly the most competitive too, with just 6.5-points separating the top four men. England’s Dan Benson, last year’s runner-up, won the opening event with 10-reps in the 280kg Axle Deadlift, but would finish out of the medals in 4th overall. Rogers placed 2nd with 9-reps and went on to take 3rd in the Log press and 4th in the Sandbag Toss to wrap-up a steady first day. Sweden’s Victor Lingman had led early on thanks to equal 2nd in the Deadlift and a win in the Log Press, but it was Zajiček who would finish the strongest, with back-to-back wins in the final two events: Yoke Carry and Sandbag Steeplechase. His poor result in the Log Press was his ultimate undoing and though he passed Lingman, who was third overall, he couldn’t overhaul Rogers, who was just too consistent over all five events: the Englishman’s worst event in the 18-man field was 5th in the Sandbag Steeplechase!
Men’s U105kg
Matt McKeegan was a truly dominant force in the Men’s U105’s as he amassed a 12-point winning margin over Thomas Owens and Slovakia’s Benjamin Machala. Asserting his authority right from the start, the Irishman, who won the title in York last year, totalled 11-reps with the 300kg axle, which was good enough for the win. He won again in the Log Press, hitting 6-reps with the 140kg log. Owens took the victory in the Sandbag Toss but lost ground in the Yoke Carry, on the start of Day 2, which ended any thoughts to a credible challenge for the title. McKeegen closed out the second say with style, placing 2nd in the Yoke and winning the Sandbag Steeplechase by a comfortable margin.
Men’s Masters 40+
Lithuania’s Dainius Repšys achieved a perfect Day 1 score as he swept to victory in all three of the events. 9-reps in the 300kg Axle Deadlift and 4-reps with the 140kg log were all winning totals and his 32.11 second Sandbag Toss was the only complete run, with all other athletes failing to clear the bar with the fifth bag. England’s Andrew Lumley and Chris Windsor-Price performed well, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the overall, but were left in the Lithuanian’s wake as he won the Yoke Carry at the start of Day two and was threatening a clean sweep. With the win already in the bag Repšys looked fatigued in the Sandbag Steeplechase and placed just 7th, leaving Richard Turrell to claim the only other event victory, helping him to 4th place overall. Repšys was 5th last year and appears to have made tremendous forward strides since then and will one to watch at World’s later this year.
Men’s Open
Oleh Pylpiak placed 7th last year, and though he had impressed with a win in the deadlift, he was off the pace in other events. His improvement over the last year has been dramatic and he backed up another deadlift victory with a 3rd place finish in the Log Press for Reps and 2nd in the Sandbag Toss to end the first day in the lead. Day 2 started with equal success as he blitzed through the 420kg Yoke Carry in a winning time of 16.65 seconds, just a few tenths ahead of Poland’s Marek Czajkowski, who placed 4th in the overall. Matyas Funiok, of the Czech Republic is a name to look out for in the future. At just 19 years of age he placed second overall, taking an event win in the Sandbag Steeplechase and performing with great consistency throughout. He finished just a point ahead of England’s Ryan Bennett who rounded off the podium in the bronze medal position, one place better than his 4th from the previous year.
